Date: 10 September 2026
Time: 09:30
Duration: 2 hours
Location: Brussels, Belgium
Cost: Free, registration needed
Organiser: CEPS - Centre for European Policy Studies
As the European Commission’s proposals for the 2028–34 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) are being shaped and negotiated, standardisation across the EU’s Research & Innovation (R&I) and competitiveness frameworks deserves a closer look.
Standards are sometimes ignored, or seen as restrictions that leave limited space for the creativity and novelty required for innovation needs. Evidence suggests the relationship is far more nuanced: standards frequently play a crucial role in supporting innovation, whether by supplying information that fuels new ideas or by creating incentives for innovative activity.
As things stand, standards appear to be insufficiently mainstreamed into the ‘innovation-to-investment journey’ that the Commission is trying to strengthen across the new post-2028 MFF, from the EU’s 10th Framework Programme for research and innovation (FP10) to the European Competitiveness Fund (ECF). To ensure standardisation effectively enables innovation and competitiveness under the EU’s next multiannual programming period, this event will explore three key questions: